Familiar sight of swallows returning

Author: Zhou Qiao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: In the sixth year of the Xiande era of the Later Zhou (959 AD), Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou died, and Gong Da ascended the throne at the tender age of 7. At that time, with a young ruler and widespread suspicion in the state, General Zhao Kuangyin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, and senior military commanders such as Shi Shouxin held real power in the army. The following year (960 AD), on the New Year's Day, it was reported that the Khitan and Northern Han forces were advancing southward. The Later Zhou prime minister hastily dispatched Zhao Kuangyin to lead the army northward to resist the invasion. When the army reached Chenqiao Post (now Chenqiao Town in the southeast of Fengqiu County, Henan), Zhao Kuangyin's brother Zhao Kuangyi and the Secretary of the Guo-de Army, Zhao Pu, instructed the soldiers to place the yellow robe on Zhao Kuangyin, proclaiming him emperor. Zhao Kuangyin led the army back to Kaifeng, forcing Emperor Gong to abdicate and seizing control of the Later Zhou regime, changing its name to "Song" and establishing the Northern Song Dynasty. Although the Northern Song Dynasty of the Zhao family ended the period of fragmentation and division of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it did not fully unify the country. At that time, several ethnic minority regimes coexisted with the Northern Song, including the Liao, established by the Khitan in the north in the 10th century, and the Western Xia, established by the Dangxiang in the northwest in the 11th century.
The Khitan originally lived in the upper reaches of the Liao River, engaging in nomadic and fishing lifestyles. During the Northern Wei period, they had close interactions with the Central Plains, exchanging horses and leather for Central Plains goods. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Khitan gradually grew stronger. By the late Tang Dynasty, their influence continued to expand. In the early 10th century, the Khitan leader Yelü Abagha unified the various Khitan tribes. In 916 AD, Abagha founded the Khitan state, naming it Liao and establishing its capital at Shangshui. In 947 AD, the Khitan changed the state's name to Liao. The Liao Empire had a vast territory, stretching northeast to the mouth of the Heilong River in the present-day Japan Sea, northwest to Mongolia, and south along the line of the Hai River in Tianjin, the Ba County in Hebei, and the Yanmenguan Pass in Shanxi, bordering the Northern Song. The Liao had five capitals: Shangjing Lingyuan Prefecture, Zhongjing Dading Prefecture, Dongjing Liaoyang Prefecture, Nanjing Xijin Prefecture, and Xijing Datong Prefecture. These five capitals respectively governed the five major routes within the Liao territory: Shangjing Lingyuan Prefecture governed the Shangjing Route, Zhongjing Dading Prefecture governed the Zhongjing Route, Nanjing Xijin Prefecture governed the Nanjing Route, and so on. This "route" was the administrative division of the time, which can be understood as the modern "province." Geographically, these five routes were indeed roughly the size of several provinces in Northeast China.